Not Quite Dead Yet

Jet, a twenty-seven-year-old law-school dropout living with her parents in Woodstock, Vermont, attends the town's Halloween Fair. The evening is defined by social friction, as Jet navigates tense interactions with her ex-boyfriend JJ Lim, her critical brother Luke and his wife Sophia, and childhood acquaintance Billy Finney. The atmosphere is heavy with family dysfunction, professional jealousy regarding the family business, Mason Construction, and local grief, culminating in a drunken outburst by Andrew Smith. After the event, Jet returns home to College Hill Road, where she argues with her mother, Dianne, and reflects on her abrupt departure from her life and job in Boston. While inside her home, Jet is brutally attacked from behind and killed by an unknown assailant. Billy Finney subsequently discovers her body and alerts the Woodstock Police Department.

Jet (Margaret Mason) awakens in the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center after a violent attack in which someone attempted to kill her by smashing her head. While she is initially relieved to be alive, her family and her neurosurgeon, Dr. Lee, are visibly devastated. Dr. Lee explains that although the initial surgery to treat a subdural hematoma and skull fractures was successful, a subsequent CT scan revealed a rare clivus fracture. A tiny bone fragment is now leaning against her basilar artery. Because Jet suffers from polycystic kidney disease (PKD), which weakens her arterial walls, Dr. Lee warns that an aneurysm will inevitably form and rupture, likely killing her within a week. The only alternative is a high-risk surgery to remove the fragment, but Dr. Lee reveals that another surgeon refused the case due to the extreme danger. Jet is faced with a grim choice: a ninety percent chance of dying on the operating table or a certainty of death within seven days.

Jet Mason awakens in a hospital following a severe assault to her head. She is faced with a devastating medical choice: undergo a surgery with less than a ten percent chance of survival or decline it and likely die within a week. Her mother, Dianne, desperately pressures her to choose the surgery, revealing a strained relationship and a history of family loss. During this time, Jet discovers she is suffering from anomic aphasia, causing her to struggle with word retrieval. She is interviewed by Detective George Ecker, Sergeant Jack Finney, and Chief Lou Jankowski. Jet reveals she does not know her attacker but notes that her ex-boyfriend, JJ Lim, has mysteriously disappeared. After providing the passcode to her Apple Watch, Jet makes her final decision. Rejecting her mother's demands and the slim hope of surgery, Jet chooses to live her final seven days on her own terms. She declares her intention to use her remaining time to achieve something significant: solving her own 'murder' by identifying her attacker.

Jet returns to her family home, which has been converted into a crime scene following a brutal attack that left her near death. Accompanied by Sergeant Jack Finney, Jet conducts a morbid walk-through of the house to gather information about her own assault. She observes the extensive blood spatter in the living room, including a 'cast-off pattern' on the ceiling and paw prints from her dog, Reggie. Jack provides forensic details: the attacker was likely right-handed, taller than Jet, and used downward strokes to hit her three times—twice while she was standing and once while she was on the floor. They establish a timeline for the attack between 10:40 p.m. and 11:00 p.m., based on neighbor reports of the dog screaming and doorbell camera footage of Billy arriving at 11:05 p.m. Jet concludes that the killer avoided the front doorbell camera and likely entered and exited through an unlocked laundry room door. The chapter ends with the crime scene being released for professional cleaning, while Jet reflects on her precarious state between life and death.

Recovering from a near-fatal attack, Jet utilizes her Apple Watch heart rate data and 'Find My Phone' feature to reconstruct the timeline of her assault, determining it occurred at 10:46 p.m. and that her iPhone 14 was last located on River Street. Through the lack of stolen items and the fact that the attacker brought their own weapon, Jet concludes the attack was a premeditated act by someone she knows rather than an opportunistic robbery. While interacting with Detective Ecker and Sergeant Finney, Jet maintains a pragmatic and darkly humorous demeanor toward her mortality, which clashes with her parents' grief. The chapter concludes with a devastating interaction between Jet and her friend Billy Finney; while Billy is initially hopeful and relieved to see her, Jet bluntly informs him that she will be dead in a week, shattering his optimism.

Jet spends the night in her bedroom, obsessively reviewing Ring doorbell footage from the day of her murder to identify her killer. She watches herself arrive home at 10:39 p.m., noting that the killer never appeared on camera, suggesting they were already inside. She also reviews the traumatic footage of Billy discovering her body and the subsequent arrival of paramedics and police. While scrubbing through earlier footage, Jet notices a discrepancy regarding Sophia's visits and a plate of cookies, though she eventually resolves the mystery. The chapter highlights Jet's isolation from her grieving parents and her physical struggle with a 'Frankenstein skull' and vision changes. The experience leaves her anxious about her remaining time and the nature of her injury, leading her to briefly search for brain aneurysm symptoms before forcing herself to sleep.

Jet wakes up late to a tense family breakfast featuring her parents, her brother Luke, his partner Sophia, and their baby, Cameron. The atmosphere is strained as Jet confronts Sophia about visiting her house twice on the night of the attack, using doorbell camera footage to challenge her alibi. Jet also notices fresh scrapes on Luke's knuckles, which he dismisses as a construction site accident. The tension peaks when Jet's mother, desperate to save her daughter from a terminal condition involving a potential aneurysm, pressures her to return to the hospital. When Jet refuses, her mother hysterically presents her with funeral brochures for caskets and urns. Overwhelmed by the emotional volatility and her mother's desperation, Jet decides she cannot spend her final days in her parents' home. She packs her belongings and leaves, eventually seeking refuge at the apartment of a man named Billy, asking if she can stay with him for her remaining week of life.

Jet is recovering at Billy Finney's house, where Billy is obsessively tidying and caring for her. While Jet uses Google Street View to investigate River Street—the location where her phone was turned off following her attack—she and Billy discuss the police's suspicion of JJ, though Jet defends him. The chapter reveals a long history between Jet and Billy, who were childhood best friends until they drifted apart in their teens. The plot shifts when Jet receives her mail, including a dismissive 'Get Well Soon' card from Gerry Clay and a shocking 'Late Notice' from a loan company called LightFi. The letter reveals that someone committed identity fraud in Jet's name, taking out a thirty-thousand-dollar loan secured against her 1986 Ford F-150 truck. Billy suggests this financial crime is likely linked to the attack on her life. The chapter ends with Jet heading to the police to report the fraud as a potential lead in her murder attempt.

Jet meets with Detective Ecker and Chief Lou in an interview room to discuss a mysterious loan letter she received in the mail. The letter indicates a loan was taken out in her name two months prior, though Jet denies any knowledge of the bank account involved. Ecker provides a brief update on the investigation, noting that neighbors on River Street reported nothing unusual and a grid search yielded no results. After the officers leave, Jet's neighbor and confidant, Jack Finney, reveals that Jet's mother attempted to file a missing persons report. Jack then shares a piece of evidence from the crime scene: a synthetic red hair found beneath the pool of blood where Jet was lying. This suggests the hair was left by the attacker before or during the crime. Jet immediately connects this evidence to JJ, who wore a red wig on Halloween, leading her to realize there are now three significant pieces of evidence pointing toward him as her killer.

Jet returns to River Street, the location where her killer turned off her phone three nights prior. She drives and walks the street, reflecting on her past relationship with JJ and questioning if her decision to end things provided a motive for murder. During her walk, she passes a cemetery where her sister Emily is buried, contemplating her own mortality. After returning to Billy's house, Jet reveals a crucial piece of evidence: a red costume wig hair found at the crime scene. While she initially suspects JJ, Billy suggests Andrew Smith, who was dressed as a clown. Jet decides to seek out Owen Clay, the fair's official photographer, to verify who wore red wigs. The chapter concludes with a tender moment where Billy helps Jet change the bandages on her head wound, highlighting their long-standing bond and Billy's protective nature.

Jet and Billy visit Gerry Clay at his home on Pleasant Street to obtain photos taken by his son, Owen, during the Halloween Fair. After navigating Owen's social awkwardness and intimidating him into giving them access to his computer, Jet and Billy review over six hundred photos. During the process, Jet notices a physical symptom—a dilated pupil—and discovers a concerning discrepancy regarding her brother Luke's hands; while Luke claimed his knuckles were grazed in a work accident on Friday morning, photos from Friday evening show his hands are unmarked, suggesting he lied about the timing or nature of the injury. The primary goal of the visit is achieved when they find two different people wearing the same distinctive red wig: JJ and Andrew Smith. Given Andrew's known hostility toward the Mason family, Jet identifies him as a primary suspect. The chapter concludes with Jet and Billy deciding to track down Andrew, and Jet defiantly shredding a parking ticket, reflecting her nihilism regarding her impending death.

Jet and Billy visit Dr Mandrake’s Dive Bar to interrogate Andrew Smith, a man Jet suspects of her murder. Andrew is an alcoholic who lives above the bar and harbors a deep resentment toward the Mason family. During the conversation, Andrew reveals that Jet's mother, Dianne, caused his daughter Nina to lose her job, which contributed to Nina's eventual suicide. He further discloses that Luke Mason pressured him into selling his family home for a price far above market value, only for the Masons to demolish it to build a 'McMansion'. Andrew also drops a bombshell regarding the family business, claiming that Scott Mason intends to sell Mason Construction to Nell Jankowski, the Chief of Police's wife, rather than leaving it to Luke. While Andrew provides a potential motive and lacks a solid alibi for the time of the attack, Billy points out a discrepancy regarding the last ping of Jet's iPhone on River Street. Andrew reveals his former home was on North Street, just off River Street, leading Jet to realize they had been focusing on the wrong location. The chapter ends with Jet and Billy heading toward North Street to investigate the construction site.

Jet and Billy visit a construction site on North Street, where Jet's brother Luke is managing a project involving the demolition of two houses. Suspecting the killer hid her phone and the murder weapon in the new foundations, Jet manipulates the foreman, Jimmy, to learn that concrete was poured on Saturday morning. Despite protests from Jimmy and a furious confrontation with Luke, Jet and Billy use sledgehammers to smash through the concrete. In the soil beneath, Jet discovers a dish towel with a cartoon orange pattern containing her shattered iPhone and a Coleby brand hammer, which she identifies as the murder weapon. The police arrive and secure the site, leading to a conflict between Jet and Detective Ecker. Ecker warns her that her retrieval methods may compromise the chain of custody and challenges her red-wig hair theory by suggesting secondary transfer. Despite this, Jet remains determined, requesting a list of all employees and contractors from Luke to identify the killer.

Jet continues her investigation into her own murder, discovering that the hammer used as the weapon is part of a sixty-piece tool kit sold exclusively in North America. During a visit to a bar to watch Billy Finney perform, Jet speaks with Nell Jankowski and learns that Jet's father intends to sell Mason Construction to Nell. Following the performance, Jet and Billy engage in a deeply vulnerable conversation regarding their pasts and their strained relationships with their mothers. Jet reveals that her mother blames her for the death of a girl named Emily, a freak accident that occurred while Jet was away at a competition. Billy shares that his own mother abandoned him when he was eighteen. The two bond over these shared traumas and feelings of inadequacy before shifting to a lighter mood, with Jet questioning Billy about the inspiration behind his songwriting.

Jet and Billy visit Luke to obtain a list of employees from Mason Construction. While Luke is distracted by his teething son, Cameron, Jet gains access to Luke's phone to check a message about medication. During this, she discovers two critical discrepancies: a text from Sophia sent during a time she claimed her phone was missing, and a 'Call me' text sent shortly after Jet's attack, contradicting Luke and Sophia's police statements that they were together at home. After leaving Luke's house, Jet decides to seek information from Henry, the brother of her former acquaintance JJ, who previously worked for the company. Despite Billy's hesitation, Jet approaches Henry's house. Upon knocking, she hears the TV inside and persists until the door is suddenly opened, leaving her staring down the barrel of a gun.

Jet and Billy visit Henry, who nearly shoots Jet in a state of panic upon their arrival. Henry is visibly injured, with a bruised eye and rib pain, and is acting paranoid. He reveals that his brother, JJ, has disappeared and is not responding to messages. Jet informs Henry of her terminal brain aneurysm, which deeply upsets him. When Jet questions Henry about his employment at Mason Construction and shows him a photo of a specific hammer, Henry denies ever working for the company, contradicting Jet's memories. As the tension rises, Jet experiences a neurological episode where her vision doubles. After returning to Billy's house and taking a short nap, Jet wakes up to discover that she has lost all feeling and motor control in her right arm, signaling a critical progression of her medical condition. The chapter ends with Billy taking her keys to drive her to the hospital.

Jet receives a devastating medical update from Dr. Lee, who confirms that her brain aneurysm is leaking—a 'sentinel bleed'—which explains the loss of function in her right arm and serves as a warning that a fatal rupture is imminent, likely within a few days. Despite the grim prognosis and her physical limitations, Jet maintains a defiant exterior, refusing help from Billy for simple tasks until she is physically unable to button her jeans. Upon returning to Billy's apartment, she is met by her parents and police officers. Detective Ecker informs her that JJ Lim has been arrested for her assault based on circumstantial evidence, including a matching wig hair, a suspicious text, and identity fraud involving a $30,000 loan taken out in Jet's name. While the police and her mother urge her to accept this resolution and spend her remaining time in peace, Jet is unconvinced. She identifies several holes in the case, such as the missing tool set and JJ's lack of connection to the North Street construction site. Determined not to 'half-ass' her final days, Jet rejects her mother's plea to go home and commits to continuing her investigation with Billy's support.

Jet and Billy review Ring camera footage to investigate Sophia's suspicious behavior on the day of Jet's attack. They discover that Sophia lied about returning to the house to retrieve her phone, as footage shows her entering and leaving multiple times. Billy suggests Sophia might have unlocked the back door to facilitate the attack. To find a pattern, Jet looks back at footage from August 30th and July 4th, discovering that Sophia consistently enters the house when the family is away, often under the guise of dropping off baked goods, and returns shortly after for a second, brief visit. On the July 4th footage, Jet spots a pill bottle fall from Sophia's pocket; she identifies it as her own Lotrel medication for her kidneys. The footage reveals Sophia taking the pills and then returning them during her second visit. Jet concludes that Sophia has been stealing and returning her medication, prompting her to urgently request Billy's help to go home and inspect the pills while her parents are away.

Jet returns to her home with Billy and her dog, Reggie, to investigate whether her sister-in-law, Sophia, has been poisoning her. Jet suspects Sophia's motive is financial, believing Sophia wants to ensure the family company goes to Luke by removing Jet from the inheritance. After comparing her own Lotrel pills (which are untampered) with her father's Lotrel pills, Jet and Billy discover that her father's capsules have been opened and filled with table salt. Given that they both suffer from Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) and require low-sodium diets, Jet realizes Sophia has been intentionally accelerating her father's kidney failure. Enraged, Jet flushes the poisoned pills and decides to confront Sophia alone, while leaving her own healthy medication in her father's cabinet to help him recover. The chapter ends with Jet determined to seek retribution against Sophia.

Jet confronts her sister-in-law, Sophia, revealing evidence from doorbell camera footage that Sophia has been poisoning their father, Scott, by replacing his medication with salt. Sophia admits to the act, claiming she only wanted to force Scott's retirement so that Luke could inherit the family company, Mason Construction. The two women engage in a heated argument regarding their shared history of abandonment and their relationship with Emily. Following the confrontation, Jet encounters Luke in his car and questions him about his whereabouts during her attack on Halloween, noting grazes on his hands. Jet then reveals the devastating news that their father does not intend to leave the company to Luke, but instead plans to sell it to Nell Jankowski, a local business owner. This revelation triggers a violent emotional outburst from Luke, who screams and repeatedly punches his steering wheel until his knuckles bleed, while Jet exits the vehicle and walks away.

Jet and Billy break into Mason Construction to investigate Luke's secretive behavior and the circumstances surrounding Jet's attack and her father's retirement. After bypassing security using the birthdays of Jet and her sister Emily as codes, they infiltrate the office. Jet accesses Luke's computer while Billy searches physical files. Their investigation reveals a systemic criminal operation: Luke has been committing tax, payroll, and insurance fraud by paying employees like Angie Rice and Henry Lim under the table. Billy discovers evidence of invoice fraud regarding a project at 19 Pleasant Street, where Luke pocketed a $5,000 difference on marble orders. They further discover that Henry Lim was working on the North Street project during a roof collapse in March, suggesting Luke's fraud left Henry without workers' compensation, providing a potential motive for Henry to attack Jet. The chapter ends abruptly as a loud alarm sounds and Billy notices the smell of smoke, suggesting a fire in the office.

Jet and Billy narrowly escape a devastating fire at Mason Construction, which appears to have been intentionally set using gas. The escape is harrowing, involving a collapsing building, a jump across a chasm, and Jet becoming trapped in her father's office before finally escaping through a second-story window. During the chaos, Jet loses her flashlight and papers from Luke's desk. In the aftermath, Jet struggles with the physical limitations of her injured arm and suffers a profound emotional breakdown. As Billy suggests that the arsonist may be the same person who attacked Jet on Halloween with the intent to kill her, Jet's suppressed terror regarding her mortality surfaces. She confesses her fear of dying to Billy, who provides essential physical and emotional support, embracing her and helping her with a towel as she collapses into vulnerability.

Jet and Billy visit Henry to interrogate him about his potential involvement in the attempt on Jet's life. Through a calculated press, Jet reveals she knows about Henry's off-the-books employment at Mason Construction and the construction accident that left him severely injured and in massive medical debt. Henry confesses that Luke Mason paid him to keep the accident a secret, and that his brother, JJ, has been desperately working extra shifts and taking out loans—including one in Jet's name—to help pay for Henry's surgeries. However, Henry provides an alibi for the night of the Halloween attack: Luke was at Henry's house at 10:46 p.m., physically assaulting him to ensure his silence after Henry threatened to contact Jet's father. This clears both Henry and Luke of the murder attempt at that specific time. Jet convinces Henry to give her his gun for protection, citing the ongoing threat to her life and the risk of JJ remaining in prison. The chapter ends with Billy receiving an urgent voicemail from his father stating that the police need to speak with Jet at the station.

Jet is questioned by Chief Jankowski and Sergeant Jack Finney regarding the arson of Mason Construction, her father's company. Jet feigns surprise and lies about her whereabouts the previous night, claiming she was at Billy Finney's apartment to hide her involvement in the fire. While the police are currently focusing on JJ Lim as the primary suspect for both the arson and Jet's attempted murder, Jet remains skeptical. After the interrogation, Jet reunites with her parents and Gerry Clay in the waiting room. Gerry reveals that a drone captured footage of the fire, though it shows no suspects. More significantly, Gerry mentions a 'cat thing'—a creepy, anonymous individual who used a cat filter and voice distortion during a Zoom town hall meeting a year prior to threaten the Mason family. Despite her mother's attempts to dismiss the incident as a harmless prank, Jet views this as a potential new lead into her own attack and the arson. The chapter ends with Jet and Billy leaving together, energized by the discovery of a new suspect.

Jet and Billy review archived Zoom recordings of Woodstock Village Trustee meetings, discovering a November 12, 2024, session where an anonymous caller using a cat filter and voice-changer confronted Trustee Dianne Mason. The caller accused Mason Construction of predatory real estate practices and claimed to know a secret known to Dianne's deceased daughter, Emily. Through visual analysis of the video's reflection and background, Jet identifies the caller as Nina, the daughter of Andrew Smith. Jet concludes that Dianne likely got Nina fired to silence her regarding this secret, which Jet suspects is linked to a recent attack on her. Following this discovery, Jet and Billy seek more evidence before confronting Jet's mother. Since Jet's parents disposed of Emily's belongings after her death in 2008, they consider accessing Emily's old Facebook account. Additionally, Jet plans to gain unauthorized access to Nina's devices, specifically a rose-gold MacBook, while Andrew is occupied in the bar downstairs.

Jet and Billy execute a plan to infiltrate the apartment of Andrew Smith, Billy's neighbor and the father of the deceased Nina Diaz Smith. While Billy distracts Andrew at his dive bar, Jet uses stolen keys to enter Andrew's cluttered, neglected home. Inside, she discovers a box of Nina's belongings containing a rose-gold MacBook. Jet and Billy successfully bypass the laptop's lack of a password and use Nina's Gmail to reset her Facebook password. Upon accessing Nina's old Messenger conversations with Jet's late sister, Emily Mason, they discover a series of messages from May 2008. Emily reveals she overheard a secret regarding someone named 'Luke' and intended to discuss it with Billy's mother, Mrs. Finney, who was their math teacher. The timing of these messages—occurring just days before Emily's death—leads Jet and Billy to speculate that this secret is linked to the tragedy, though Jet insists Emily's death was an accident.

Jet and Billy visit a bar where Billy returns keys to a passed-out Andrew Smith. After a tense encounter with his boss, Allison, who threatens his job due to missed shifts, Billy and Jet leave together. Jet, feeling a sudden need for simplicity and connection, asks Billy to go for a walk without a specific destination or purpose. They wander through The Green, where Jet catches an amber leaf and gives it to Billy for luck. They lie in the grass and share an intimate conversation about their futures and pasts; Jet explains why she didn't marry JJ, citing a fear of stagnation and a desire to be a better version of herself. Billy expresses his belief that life is about finding 'your person.' The chapter concludes with a moment of shared, uncontrollable laughter and a tender exchange of goodnights, marking a deepening emotional bond between the two characters as Jet momentarily forgets her internal turmoil.

Jet and Billy visit the site of Emily's drowning from seventeen years prior, where Billy recalls smelling chlorine on Luke before Emily's body was discovered. Seeking further evidence, they search the attic of Billy's childhood home and discover his mother's 2008 work planner. A hidden note from May 31, 2008, written by Beth Finney, states, "He was already wet. Before." This discovery, combined with Billy's memory of scratches on Luke's arms, leads Jet to hypothesize that Luke may have killed Emily and staged the scene as an accident involving the pool drain. This realization provides Jet with a profound emotional shift, as she concludes that if Luke was responsible, she is not to blame for her sister's death, a sentiment echoed and supported by Billy.

Jet and Billy are confronted by Sophia Mason, who is furious that Jet told Luke about Sophia's involvement with pills. The confrontation escalates as Jet reveals her knowledge of Luke's corporate fraud and the poisoning of his father-in-law. In retaliation, Sophia reveals a devastating secret to Billy: Jet manipulated Billy's mother into cheating on a precalculus assignment during their junior year by using the memory of Billy's dead sister, Emily. This manipulation is presented as the final straw that led Billy's mother to abandon him. Devastated and feeling betrayed, Billy walks away from Jet. As Jet attempts to follow him, she is intercepted by the police chief and Jack Finney. The chief attempts to arrest Jet for second-degree arson. Jet leads the police on a desperate foot chase through the town, vaulting walls and running through alleys, driven by the belief that she has less than forty-eight hours to live. Ultimately, she is cornered in an alley and placed under arrest.

Jet is arrested and interrogated by the police chief and Sergeant Jack Finney for the arson of Mason Construction. Despite her claims of innocence and her urgent plea that she is dying, the police present photographic evidence of her truck at the scene at 11:22 p.m. Jet concludes that her brother, Luke, framed her by taking the photo and setting the fire. While in a holding cell, she encounters JJ, another suspect who denies attacking her. Jet uses a phone call to leave a voicemail for Billy Finney, in which she contradicts her earlier denials and confesses to burning down Mason Construction and harming Billy's mother, driven by a desire to emulate Emily and prove herself to her parents. She expresses deep regret and gratitude for her connection with Billy, claiming she only truly began living through him. The chapter concludes with Jet asking Mr. Finney for paper and a pen to write goodbye letters to her family, struggling to write with her non-dominant left hand.

Jet is released from jail after a witness corroborates her account, allowing her to reunite with Billy. Together, they travel to the ruins of Mason Construction to confront Luke. During the encounter, Luke confesses to multiple crimes: he admits to setting the fire at Mason Construction to cover up financial fraud and invoice issues, and he confesses to murdering their sister, Emily, seventeen years prior. Luke reveals that Emily had discovered he was not their father's biological son, and that his biological father had assisted him. Despite the revelations and firing a warning shot, Jet chooses not to kill Luke. In a final, tense interaction, Jet places a small black square from Billy's guitar case into Luke's pocket, tells him she is sorry he could not change, and departs with Billy, reflecting on how Luke may be the reason she is 'dead'.

Jet and Billy attempt to track Luke using a Tile tracker, during which Jet theorizes that either Andrew Smith or Lou Jankowski killed her to ensure Luke inherited Mason Construction. While searching Billy's closet for supplies, Jet discovers a Coleby tool kit and, noting the murder weapon was a hammer from a matching set, accuses Billy of the crime. As Jet suffers a violent physical seizure and transition, Billy falsely confesses to the murder to provide her comfort. Jet eventually realizes Billy's innocence and passes away in his arms. Before her death, Jet entrusts Billy with letters addressed to her family, friends, and enemies. These letters reveal her strained relationship with her mother, her love for her father, her disdain for Sophia, and her shared trauma with Luke regarding the shadow of someone named Emily. Jet's final wishes include leaving her truck to Billy and her money to Henry Lim for eye surgery, while urging Billy to find love again.

In Chapter 33, Billy confronts his father with evidence of a long-term affair with Dianne Mason and the truth regarding Emily Mason's death. Billy reveals that his father killed Jet to protect Luke Mason—his biological son—and to ensure Luke's inheritance of the family company, preventing Scott Mason from selling it to Nell Jankowski. After forcing a confession at gunpoint, Billy reveals that Luke has overheard the entire conversation via phone. While Billy intends to handle the situation legally, Luke's temper takes over. Luke seizes a gun and chases his father toward the Masons' house. The confrontation culminates in Luke shooting and killing his father in front of Dianne, Scott, and Sophia. Billy reflects that while this was not the ending he planned, it is one he can live with.